Jade's Stars
by ErinVroegh2230
Summary: Jade tries to find the galaxy that might not be quite as far, far away as people think...


**Title** [for lack of anything better: Jade's Stars

**Rating**: T, just to be safe, though it's probably overkill. I don't know where I'm going to take this story.

**Plot Summary**: Jade searches for (and finds?) the galaxy that apparently isn't so far, far away...

**A/N**: Hey guys... I'm totally new to this whole fanfic thing...so I don't know exactly what I'm doing. I've also never written a story before... but I wanted to give it a try. Please review, criticism is fine... but please be gentle! I'm writing this one chapter at a time, so I don't know when (if ever) the next part will come.

**Disclaimer**: The beloved Star Wars universe belongs to George Lucas... I'm just playing around in it. Jade (Firestone), NOT (Mara) Jade, is mine. The name Jade is something I've liked even before I've heard of Mara Jade, so I decided to use it. Please don't hate me for it if its confusing or something.

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Rain misted down from the night sky as a lone figure poured over the star charts, squinting up past the wisps of clouds that covered the constellations she so desperately wanted to find. Returning to a binder filled with various notes, diagrams, and photos, she muttered to herself. If one listened closely, he might think he heard the word _Corellia_, or perhaps _Dathomir_But unless one truly knew Jade Firestone, he would dismiss the words as illusions put there from watching too many movies. 

Jade finally gave up, deciding she had to wait for a clearer night, when the stars were actually visible. She trudged back inside, entering into her living room. She walked across the room and looked at a chart hanging on the wall. There were six columns, each simply labeled with a Roman numeral. In the columns there were tally marks, each with about fifty or sixty. She counted the tallies, picked the column with the least amount, and added one to it. She promptly went to the enormous television cabinet and opened it to reveal three shelves filled, strangely, with only six movies—but in so many different versions, on videos and DVDs alike. She picked an older looking copy of one with the same Roman numeral as the column in the chart she chose, and popped the video into the VCR. Grabbing a binder labeled, once again, with the same numeral, she found a green pen and set them on the floor. She went to a corner of the room and began dragging the large armchair that resided there towards the TV. When she had finally got it in the desired position, alarmingly close to the screen, she grabbed one of seven remote controls and turned on a surround sound system that would have made any movie fanatic jealous. Grabbing her binder, she plopped into the chair and opened it to a new sheet of paper, eyes going wide at the sight of the opening words: "_A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…"_

As words burst onto the screen, she earnestly began scribbling down comments about what she saw in what other people considered the background. For Jade, the starry sky behind the words was a masterpiece; one just waiting for her to finally grasp the solution to the puzzle it held. As the words faded away, and the movie unraveled, she allowed herself, as always, to enjoy the scenes hidden inside the base on Hoth, under the cave on Dagobah, or in the confines of Cloud City. But the instant the action came out into open air, she was ready to scribble more notes to add to the binders already filled with seemingly pointless information about the position of suns, moons, and stars.

Hours later, Jade managed to close the notebook and set it on the floor before she fell asleep on the chair, exhausted by the rapt attention she had given _The Empire Strikes Back_. Her dark chocolate colored hair came loose from the messy bun she had earlier pulled it into, allowing a lone, perfect brown spiral to fall in front of her face. Her deep green eyes fluttered shut, and she slept, a petite figure lost inside a soft, hooded green sweatshirt.

When Jade awoke, it was already light outside. Blinking back the sun that streamed through the blinds, she entered her small kitchenette to grab a hot chocolate to drink. She opened the drapes, revealing the deep forest outside. The small cabin in northern Wisconsin had cost her a fortune, but the money she saved by getting scholarships to college made up for it. It was an hour drive to the nearest town, but Jade liked it that way. The sky was a thousand times clearer than the sky in New York, where she had grown up. The part-time jobs she worked left just enough room for her passion that everyone she knew shunned her for. But how could someone just forget the possibility that was there? Maybe she was chasing the wind, but _what if she __wasn't_

Often at night Jade would lie awake, dreaming of the galaxies that she was sure were there. Everything pointed towards it being true, all her research, her life's work—but "its only a movie," people would tell her. "A sci-fi—get that, science FICTION movie?" Jade's face would burn, true to her surname, and let them believe what they wanted. Let them believe that George Lucas made it all up, let them believe that nothing existed—Jade knew better than that. For at heart, Jade was still the child she was when she first saw a _Star Wars_ film. Her face still portrayed an innocent expression of awe at the marvels inside the other galaxy. She was the six year old, obsessed with learning all she could. And now it was about to pay off.

Well, not exactly.

See, Jade knew she could match the constellations ("Made up! Glitter scattered on black velvet!" They'd say.) with what was in the sky. She was so close. The Outer Rim was _right there_, she knew it. But…what of it? What next? Deep in her heart, she told herself that it was a waste of time, even if it was true. There was no way to get up there…wherever "there" exactly was.

But Jade was not about to give up years of research just because of a tiny technicality like that.

At seven o'clock that night, Jade went outside and dove into her research again. Using a powerful telescope, she compared back and forth different sections of the sky with various photos she had printed out of the stars from scenes in the various _Star Wars_ episodes. She worked tirelessly, stopping only once to grab a soda from the fridge. At one in the morning Jade began to tire. But she began muttering to herself, trying to figure out what she was missing. Her frustration began to mount, and she picked up one of eight binders she had with her, and threw it against a nearby tree. She immediately regretted this, and rushed to pick it up. One note, however, had blown out of the binder. Jade chased it, finally catching it before it blew into a brook nearby. Looking at the contents of the small memo, she froze. She dashed back to her worksite, frantically flipping through pages and pages of charts, until she found the one she wanted. She took a deep breath, adjusted and looked through the telescope, and a smile broke out on her face.

"There you are…finally...there you are."

And with that, Jade vanished.

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Read and review, folks, read and review. It is _greatly _appreciated, trust me. I need to know if I should even bother with this. Thanks!  



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